Miho Yoshioka and Keiju Okada: Putting Japanese Sailing on the Map

The duo have both previously competed at the Olympics, Yoshioka in the women’s 470 at the last two Games and Okada in the men’s 470 event in Tokyo.

Now, as the two classes combine in the mixed 470, the pair have joined forces to campaign together in the build-up to Paris 2024.

Having clinched the world title in the 470-class mixed two-person dinghy at the Allianz Sailing World Championships last year, the compatriots have made it hard to overlook the feat of their success.

Inspired by family

Okada first got a taste for the water at a young age through his father, who is also a sailor but for Yoshioka, the path to the top was rather more convoluted.

For much of her early life, she was more focussed on indoor sports, with her height making her a particularly strong volleyball player.

It was only thanks to her grandmother that she discovered a love of water sports. Then, at Ashiya High School in Hyogo, she took the leap and picked up the sport which has become her profession.

She explained: “I grew up in Hyogo Prefecture in west Japan which is quite a remote place. I had to travel over an hour to get to school but my grandmother used to live near the ocean. I always loved going to stay with her and just being near the water.

“It wasn’t until I was 15 years old that I discovered sailing at school. I used to do volleyball and badminton but those are inside sports – I wanted to be surrounded by nature and the wind and the waves.

“The feeling of being outside and on the water for the first time was like nothing I had experienced before. I knew I wanted to keep sailing after that.”

Even though Yoshioka wanted to keep sailing, she was starting to question her future in the sport while studying at Ritsumeikan University.

In her fourth year though, everything changed. At a sailing tryout event hosted by the Japanese Sailing Federation, Ai Yoshida spotted her and was struck by her height – with the student measuring 177cm.

With a 10-year age gap and an even greater disparity in experience, it was a partnership of contrasts, but one that Yoshioka hoped would convince her family of the beauty of sailing.

“As sailing is not a major sport in Japan, my family were opposed to me pursuing it at first,” Yoshioka said.

“I knew how much I loved it and never had any intention of quitting, but their disapproval also motivated me to work hard and get good results. I thought if I did that, I could gain their support.

“I remember when I was a little girl I watched the Sydney Olympics on television. The women’s marathon sticks in my mind because Naoko Takahashi – a Japanese athlete – won gold.

“I knew from that moment that if I worked hard I could achieve great things in my life, but I never imagined I would one day compete on the same Olympic stage.”

Women’s 470 Success

Yoshioka and Yoshida quickly came together, with the latter leading the way as they claimed 10th at their first World Championships together before finishing fifth on the former’s Olympic debut in Rio.

With Yoshida in her mid-30s, retirement loomed but the fact that sailing at the Tokyo Olympics was taking place in her home waters in Enoshima, meant that she had to go for one more campaign.

Despite Yoshida taking time out for her first child, the duo reunited and made history in 2018, becoming the first Japanese duo to strike gold at the Sailing World Championships, doing so in Aarhus.

In Denmark, Japan also took silver in the men’s 470, but Okada had to settle for sixth and the second spot in terms of Japanese crews alongside Jumpei Hakazono.

Yoshida and Yoshioka followed up that world title with a silver medal in the 470 Worlds in Beijing the following year, but had to settle for seventh in Tokyo on home waters.

Okada was also part of the team three years ago, he and Hakazono earning the Japanese spot and matching their female counterparts with a seventh-place finish.

Joining forces

One of the big changes ahead of Paris was a merging of the men’s and women’s classes in the 470 into a mixed class.

Okada and Yoshioka quickly found their feet in a wide-open class, taking bronze at the Allianz Regatta in 2022 before a breakthrough 2023.

They took top honours at the Trofeo Princesa Sofia, finished just off the podium at the Olympic Test Event in Marseille and then laid down a marker by taking gold in The Hague at the Allianz Sailing World Championships.

Add in gold at the Asian Games a month later, as well as bronze at the 470 Worlds in February, and little wonder they are dreaming of glory on the Mediterranean.

Both have medals on their mind for Marseille and hope that success on a global stage will have a two-fold effect: making history and helping to put sailing on the map in Japan.

“Winning the World Championships last year has given Miho and I the confidence going into Paris that we can perform,” said Okada. “We want to get a gold medal in Marseille.

“I hope that people are inspired by us.

“Sailing is gaining more attention in the media and the exposure of sailing to the people of Japan especially is much greater now than when I first started.

“Sailing is not very popular in Japan but I hope that by watching us compete at the Paris Olympics more people in Japan will take an interest in the sailing world. We want to inspire others to try sailing.”